Mithridates (c.163-132BC)

The King of Pontus, who feared being poisoned - so regularly took small doses in the hope of developing immunity. However, when he was defeated in battle by Pompey, he attempted to take his life with poison, but his immunity worked and he failed - having to ask a soldier to stab him to death. His name lives on in the word 'mithridatisation' - meaning 'the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually administering non-lethal quantities.

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